Blogspotlight: Kurumi Shim

Blogrolls can be an effective way to spread the word for a website. In the wake of generating traffic to a blog, I want to dedicate a spotlight post in which I highlight a blog that is worth mentioning. The third blog is called Kurumi Shim.

Question 1 Could you tell the readers a bit about your blog? What can we find on your blog?

“My blog simply portrays my passion towards the Japanese popular culture. The highlights of my blog should have been associated with anime, however, due to my wide enthusiasm in various things surrounding it, I have also decided to make reviews, impressions and some random thoughts on different manga titles and Japanese dramas, more likely, live action adaptation. I usually post overall brief reviews on various titles I have recently watched and read. I would post reviews on not-so-recent series randomly, too. Although I have tried making episodic reviews along with my quick thoughts on them, I find myself more comfortable when I view the series as a whole. Despite this idea, I am planning to make more refined episodic reviews when my blog gets more followers.”

Question 2 What made you decide to start your own blog?

“My first experience as an anime blogger happened way back in 2006, the peak year when everyone was obsessively lazing around the popular social networking site, now a gaming site, called Friendster, and I posted my first review in their blogger’s area. Within that year was the rising action towards my path as an anime enthusiast. Since I have always spent most of my days watching anime, an idea came into my mind and that was – I’d like to burst out my passion that has been unknown to others and to express myself in a more realistic manner. Thus, starting a blog was a good idea to achieve my satisfaction.

Apart from that, I love writing a lot. I’d like to hold on this passion to enhance more my capabilities. During my school days, I wasn’t confident enough to show my potential as a writer. Upon entering college, I was planning to take up any courses that pertain to writing or arts, however, due to certain circumstances, it turned out into something different. Blogging is an alternative way to satisfy my desire I’ve never achieved before. Nevertheless, I feel contented of what I am now. ”

Question 3 How did you get in touch with anime and other Japanese media?

“I started watching anime at the age of 4. A series titled Ninja Senshi Tobikage was broadcast on Philippine television in 1996, and I believe, it was the very first anime I watched. As a small kid with undeveloped mind, I referred anime as “Japanese cartoon” until I learned the right term as I got a wide variety of experience. Soon after, I would always kept my eyes on television and eventually encountered these legendary titles, as we may call it today, such as Yuyu Hakusho and Dragon Ball Z. As several years passed by, I became more active in the world of anime when the world wide web began to dominate the youngsters. I have watched a lot of titles via online and joined various anime-related sites actively.

Through watching anime, I got interconnected to other things comprising the word – manga, J-pop, J-drama, live action, cosplay, and the likes. I’ve never tried reading a manga until around the year 2008, a virtual friend introduced a series titled Saboten no Himitsu by Nana Haruta, a typical romance about unrequited love. I was in the peak of my adolescence during those times so I absolutely enjoyed reading a lot of romantic series despite several of them give off cliche scenarios. ”

Question 4 What is the element that you like most in anime?

“I like bishounen characters not necessarily from a reverse harem series or from an Otome game-based anime. As long as a character meets the anatomy of the bishounen, I would already consider it as a dazzling creature. I was first enlightened with the term “bishounen” by an old anime magazine, featuring the physical aspects of Sha Gojyo from the series Saiyuki as a good example. ”

Question 5 Do you have a specific genre you love to watch?

“My genre preferences mainly include romantic comedy, reverse harem, action/adventure and historical particularly Japanese era and medieval period. Among these, the most part of my list would comprise romantic comedy. I have almost watched all the highly recommended titles such as, to mention few of them, Lovely Complex, Itazura na Kiss, Skip Beat, Special A, Toradora, Kaichou wa Maid-sama and Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun. “Question 6 What is your favorite series? Can you tell us what made it so special?

“Regardless with the large number of romantic comedy series I have watched, one of my favorite anime is Hakuouki. I particularly like the historical and political perspective in Hakuouki which depicts the Japanese era as the existence of Shinsengumi is widely drawn attention in the series, swords fighting with extensive gore factor and lots. Although the series is blended with supernatural aspects as the involvement of Rasetsu, a human that has transformed into something, the storyline is at least close to reality considering the role of the characters, the involvement of Shogunate and various historical settings.

Another worth mentioning series is Uta no Prince-sama, a series related to music. Some would think that I’m after with the bishie characters, but the truth is, I was simply amazed by the beautiful voice of the characters’ seiyuu, which I consider to be the notable factor in the series, not to mention the well-known voice actor Mamoru Miyano who sings outstandingly with his heavenly voice. I did enjoy listening to the characters’ song a lot. I’m not a music enthusiast but ironically speaking, it’s one of the best anime I’ve ever watched. Somehow it’s inspirational as it develops our determination towards our dreams not only with regards to music career but also in other aspects.”

Question 7 What do you dislike in anime?

“What I dislike is when a series leaves off with a huge cliffhanger, thus I would desperately look forward to a second season. It’s a bad feeling especially when you are expecting too much from the series. In some cases, there are a lot of questions that remain unanswered as they hold strong suspense upon reaching the finale of a series which would at least make me excited into reading the manga or the original version further. ”

Question 8 You also like to watch Jdrama, listen to Jmusic, do Cosplay and the likes. Can you tell us a bit more?

“I officially started watching Japanese drama after my encounter with The Prince of Tennis live action way back in 2006. Although not vibrant as anime, Japanese dramas are way realistic since they come out in flesh with their natural expression as the actors perform impressively. I usually prefer romantic comedy drama series blended with dramatic scenes. I like when the setting mostly happens in school because I would always love to take a glance on the Japanese school life with their stylish and well-designed uniforms and how they seem to enjoy their youth to the highest extent. Watching J-dramas can also enhance my ability to speak Japanese as what I have learned from watching anime.

I do cosplay. However, due to my hectic schedule at work throughout the year, I can not find a large amount of time to attend conventions. Cosplaying is another way to express yourself, the strong passion for a certain character. Though high detailed costume plays a big factor, at the end, it’s about knowing the character and giving justice for the character.”

Question 9 You’re from the Philippines. How is the anime/manga/Japan scene?

“There are a lot of conventions in the country which mostly happen in the capital region. I live far from the capital so I still have to travel to attend various events. We also have to invite guests, more likely, well-known international cosplayers like KANAME (Japan), Reika (Japan) and Miyuko (Korea).

Japanese culture is quite popular in the Philippines especially when you reach big areas in the country, and you’ve got to meet people who have the same interests as you do. It’s really great to share your ideas to others who can deeply associate with your interests even to the most random thing.

I have some manga but it’s not my habit to collect a lot of them since I’ve always been dependent on scanlations around the web. I collect other anime items though, like plush dolls, nendoroids and other figures, and many more. ”

Question 10 What does the future hold for your blog?

“As my blog progresses in the future, hopefully, I can provide a lot of interesting posts and reviews for my regular viewers. I’d like to continue the path I’ve started and to end it with high glory. I will continue to work as an anime enthusiast and as a writer/blogger. With regards to my plans for my blog, I’d like to add more features on it, like the incorporation of images in my reviews to allow the viewers visualize the series more than just descriptive words, and to further add a lively ambiance to my posts. I’d like to do editorials, too. ”

Question 11 To make this post a little more personal. Can you give us a random fact about yourself?

“I am actually a nurse. It is definitely an exhausting job, but I find myself as an amazing person since I still have enough time to watch lots of anime and J-drama, read manga, do write-ups and the likes. I’m also a gamer of RPGs especially Tales series and I’m planning to make some game reviews soon. I also love to draw and aspire to become a manga artist in the future along with my creative storyline.”

I want to thank Kurumi Shim for participating in this blogspotlight post. It’s a pleasure to have other bloggers participate and give their take on anime and the likes. Don’t forget to give Kurumi Shim a visit!